[34]. GOD BUILDS UP, BUT SATAN BUILDS DOWN
To build up is to edify. To edify is to improve, make morally stronger and sets one on the path to the goodness of God. Christians are to edify – to build up – not just themselves, but others. The purpose of Christians in the world is to serve and glorify the Saviour. That has a practical component where we assist the ones fallen because of sin, and assist our fellow Christians who are having a hard time.
We can have hard times because it is possible for a Christian to slip up and fall into sin. Don’t shun that person; help the one who has fallen. That is also the special role of a shepherd. We can have hard times because of testing that God allows. Why does God allow testing to encounter you, to smack you in the face? It is because He wants to demonstrate His faithfulness to you. The third reason we may go through hard times is Satan/demons buffeting us, attacking us because the evil hates the good. Those who belong to Christ belong to the good. That is the side we are on. There are only two sides.
Christians must build each other up, to strengthen our common fellowship with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another, and BUILD UP ONE ANOTHER, just as you also are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14 “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, ENCOURAGE THE FAINTHEARTED, HELP THE WEAK, be patient with all men.”
Satan will destroy the striving for excellence and decent achievement. He pulls down especially the development for morality and justice and order and decency. His opposition is to all that is of God. The Holy Spirit indwells Christians, for that is what the Lord promised when He sent the Comforter. But there is a sense where the Holy Spirit is “in the world,” and His purpose is to hold back the evil, like a dam wall holding back a large body of water. Look at these verses:
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 “For the mystery of LAWLESSNESS is already at work. Only HE WHO NOW RESTRAINS will do so until He is taken out of the way, and then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.”
We are informed that lawlessness (iniquity – AV) is working in the world, but the Restrainer is holding back the full onslaught of that evil. The Restrainer is the Holy Spirit, for there is nothing or anyone else who can hold back satanic evil in the world. The Holy Spirit also holds back the revelation of “the lawless one” (that is the Antichrist), but when the Holy Spirit is “taken out of the way” when the Church is removed in the Rapture, then wickedness will burst on this earth, and Antichrist will be revealed.
Satan strives to destroy decency and standards, to bring the world to ruin, but the Holy Spirit is holding back the full outbreak of evil. I heard a speaker say that if our eyes could be opened in a special way, we would see a constant battle in the air above us, a spiritual battle in the angelic world where the good angels are at war with the demons. For Satan is the prince and power of the air. The angels are on our side! There is nothing to fear, and the Restrainer dwells within you!
We are seeing standards fall away and the inferior replacing what is of quality; second rate replacing first rate; sinfulness replacing holiness and piousness. Wickedness is growing. Just look at the foul demonstrations against decency all around the world, and especially against Israel. Satan builds down, and that affects everything now.
I had an incident today that reminded me of this very thing. For those of us who are older, and I am 80, we remember when tools were made of the highest quality – highest quality steel and workmanship that often came from England. We remember products were made to last, not start to fall apart the moment they struggle out of warranty. I have kitchen knives my mother and grandmother had, and they work perfectly (some of those are 100 years old). There are just so many examples I can quote.
I suppose no one knows this, but the name “Kelso” was famous in wheelbarrows, and I bought one in 1974. I still have it. I just cannot imagine how much stuff I have carried in that wheelbarrow over the years in doing up two complete yards/properties and maintaining them. I would have mixed around 20-plus tons of concrete in that wheelbarrow and probably an equal weight of concrete blocks, gravel and sand, and so much soil and stones. Yet it still is with me and is not pristine, of course, but still performs well; the wheel is a bit wobbly like me, but still wonderful.
Look at modern wheelbarrows. They are light plastic and ergonomically inferior. They don’t last.
However, I digressed from my story today. About 20 years ago, I bought a powerful water pressure cleaner, the top German brand I won’t name. Now there is water rushing from the trigger gun, indicating something inside that has come loose (I have not used it that much). I saw the agent today, and the new replacement does not fit the connections. I have to replace the whole water hose and trigger gun, and because the attachments also won’t fit the new design, I have to replace them as well. The cost for the whole replacement will be about $140 because they won’t bother to open the trigger gun and see what the problem is. Then the attachments might not fit the new part.
What is bad here is that all this is now coming from China and not Germany. Quality has been sacrificed for Chinese junk. It feels inferior, much thinner, and looks cheap compared with the original.
The second story comes from a few months ago. Because I do a lot of printing for my church Bible study group and for some church programs, I bought a HP colour laser printer for about $1,000 dollars, and it worked well. I am not a big user, with about 2 to 3,000 sheets a year. Now that it is out of warranty, something happened with the transfer belt, just a part in the printer that is not expensive to manufacture. HP wants about the same price now that I paid for the printer for a new transfer belt that is easy to install. It is utter extortion!! They are not alone in this. I had a similar experience with Fuji Xerox. They don’t care.
The quality in the world is failing, and Satan loves it. Morality is failing, as are human relationships. The Gospel has been watered down, and it is becoming inferior in a lot of places. Satan is destructive, not constructive. We are in the era of plastic wheelbarrows and non-lasting printers because there is no longer a standard for excellence. Very sadly, this is the same attitude found in a number of churches. Satan loves to replace what was solid and lasting with what is junk with no pride of manufacture, only to pull down and destroy.
God’s standards are unchangeable, for God is from eternity to eternity. We have an enemy that will eat away at the standards that originated from God. I hope you all love your nation where you live. It always used to be like that. Patriotism is a great thing, but there has been a change. We are at the end of the Church age on the eve of the Rapture and are witnessing a great increase in lawlessness in so many Western nations. In my nation, demonstrators can burn the Australian flag in the streets and raise the Rainbow flag and the Aboriginal flag and the Palestinian flag while Hamas is praised. Can you believe this?
We will not leave this point there in a negative way. There is a verse I will take out of context that we must ever have before us, and it is this – Luke 21:28 “When these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads because YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR.” What Jesus was speaking of are the signs of His Second Coming when He delivered the Olivet Discourse to His disciples. He mentioned them as being – Luke 21:25-26 “There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
Christians DO NOT LOOK FORWARD WITH EXPECTATION TO THE SECOND COMING. That will be at the end of the Tribulation. Rather, we look forward with great expectation to the Rapture of the Church, the glorious hope, the blessed hope when the Lord comes for His Bride.
Titus 2:11-14 “The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, LOOKING FOR THE BLESSED HOPE and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, CHRIST JESUS, WHO GAVE HIMSELF for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
The world is getting darker, but our hope is getting brighter. The Lord is coming. Don’t look down at Satan’s increasing power in humanity, but look up to heaven from where the Lord will suddenly appear for us with the call – “COME UP HERE.” Revelation 4:1 “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me said, ‘COME UP HERE, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'”
We are drawing this series to a close, and the last one I will close with is a selection of events and conclusions.
[35]. DISRUPTION, CHAOS, CONFUSION, AND DECLINE
A SUMMING UP. Yes, we have considered over 30 of the schemes Satan uses to inflict his tragedy and evil on the world. All that he does is meant to bring about the destruction of goodness and man’s connection with his Creator. When the Gospel was followed more closely in the past, the nations saw a form of godliness and a lot more converted men and women. Many Christian standards were upheld, but Satan fought against that to bring the world to what we see today.
I feel certain that if you asked anyone over the age of 50 if they think the world today is a better or worse place than it was 50 years ago, then nearly all would say it is worse today. We know that decline has happened. The young generation merrily playing away on chat, social media, and games and frivolity on their phones often don’t care anyway, as they are being blinded by the god of this age.
True Christianity is real. God is real. All people will know that – those who are converted know that now, and those who reject God will know at the point of death when they suddenly find themselves in hell, lost forever. We wish that on no one and hope for repentance before it is too late.
In this whole series of articles, I covered only major issues, but constantly now on the News, we hear of horrible things happening. We hear of events that are changing the world, and authorities do not have the interest or knowledge to correct those matters. Governments pursue the wind and light without substance. I will cite a few of these happenings that show Satan increases his influence.
[A]. The Islamic demonstrations in many of the free nations of the world are alarming as these agitators call for the overthrow of the nations that gave them refuge, and for the installation of Islamic Sharia law. The whole purpose of Islamic mobs moving to all the nations is to establish Islam worldwide. As Islam is a foul practice of war and the god Allah one of the Baal gods, then this movement truly has Satan as the operative. Even more concerning is the number of non-Moslem people who march along with these supporters of terrorism, sympathizing with their mandate. That can only be blindness.
[B]. London is fallen, is fallen. Moslem agitation in England is not able to be properly controlled by the police or Government. This is very serious. It leads to disruption and eventual chaos. Satan loves both of those outcomes. The evil one hates law and order, and as I have tried to point out in a number of these 35 examples, Satan’s aim is to bring in lawlessness and consequential chaos and breakdown of society.
[C]. Gutless Governments have placated these marching terrorists. One of the worst examples I have seen is the many, many thousands of radical terrorists and activists the Australian Government (Labor Party) brought into the nation. These were chanting outside the Sydney Opera House, “Gas the Jews. Gas the Jews. Kill the Jews.” The police were there and did nothing because the Marxist Government of New South Wales wanted nothing done. If I was there with a flag chanting, “Gas the homosexuals,” there would be about a dozen charges immediately brought against me, including probable jail time. We don’t expect justice anymore because we are more and more into Satan’s rule. The Lord is coming very soon.
We will see more and more lawlessness. I am thankful that Holland will not allow these hate marches by Moslems and terrorists.
[D]. How far can we go? The Teachers’ Union (Federation) of New South Wales was encouraging all its teachers in November 2023 to go to the classroom wearing the Palestinian scarf and some insignia and showing support for Gaza (by implication, support for Hamas). This is because of the rapidly increasing hatred for Israel worldwide. It is disgusting that a Teachers’ Union can do that, as it must not be into indoctrination but proper education, but the world is becoming so evil so quickly.
It was not possible for me to accept some years ago that the world would have this attitude toward Israel, but we are seeing it. Satan HATES Jews and Israel because they are God’s earthly people. They will always be blessed. Read the great prophecies of Isaiah. Satan hates Christians because they are God’s heavenly people. We have been told that evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves (2 Timothy 3:13).
We have crossed over the line of fairness some time back and proceed onwards going from more degeneracy to more degeneracy. We are becoming lawless, but the Antichrist, man of sin, is also called the man of lawlessness; so as the Church age draws quickly to a close, more and more lawless behavior is seen but also is accepted by a deluded world. A darkness is veiling the human race; only people don’t recognize it, but it grows worse and enslaves all under its control.
[E]. The United Nations was set up to engender and maintain peace in the world without favor. As I write this today, the UN has just passed another resolution condemning Israel with the support of the large majority of member nations. The condemnation of Israel in resolutions is a constant theme of the UN body. NOT ONCE has Hamas been condemned, nor Russia which is killing thousands in the Ukraine.
Not once. The nations of the world hate Israel, and it will continue that way. I will not repeat what I have written in the past, but read my post on the Hamas-Israel war in the Eschatology Prophecy section. https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/55-how-christians-must-understand-the-israel-and-hamas-situation-ron-ferguson-sermon-on-israel-276405
The world will be judged for its hatred of Jews and Israel, and God promised Abraham that those who curse him (and his offspring) will be cursed by God Himself, and the corollary – those who bless Abraham and his offspring God will bless.
The world is preparing itself for the Tribulation, which in part will be the cursing upon the world for its treatment of the Jews. A similar truth will be realized for the world’s hatred and persecution of Christians for 2,000 years.
[F]. Are you alarmed at the weapons proliferation in the world? It is no surprise. People are becoming scared because of their uncertainty, but God is certain. We know what is happening. When the Church is taken to heaven in the Rapture and pictured there in Revelation chapters 4 and 5, the earth is in shock because of the exit of many souls, including children not yet at the age of accountability. At the close of that great worship scene in heaven, the 7 seals of judgment are broken one by one.
The first seal is the rider on the white horse, the coming Antichrist, the world ruler. Then the second seal is broken – the rider on the red horse. It tells us peace is taken from the earth, and men (people) will kill each other, and there will be wars all over the world, the same event Jesus spoke of – Matthew 24:6-7 “You will be hearing of WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For NATION WILL RISE AGAINST NATION, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.”
That is what the nations are preparing for, even though they do it ignorantly. They are preparing for these Tribulation wars, and Satan will love it because he wants to destroy God’s creation and people. We are not ignorant of his schemes. We know where it is all going. People are having their lifestyles ruined and costs of living crippling so many because of the great deceptive lie of climate change, all from Satan. God will answer that deceit also near the end of the Tribulation. These people who are killing lifestyles and families through debt with the lunacy of global warming, God will give them global warming:
Revelation 16:8-9 “The fourth angel poured out his bowl UPON THE SUN, AND IT WAS GIVEN TO IT TO SCORCH MEN WITH FIRE. And MEN WERE SCORCHED WITH FIERCE HEAT; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues; and THEY DID NOT REPENT, so as to give Him glory.”
[G]. Truth has been shaved. There is no truth from politicians, judges, and the judiciary, liars and deceivers. Men and women lie to one another, for Satan is the father of lies, a liar from the beginning, and the truth is not in him. The same is true of those who do not belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. They are in Satan’s camp.
If you are reading this and have never given your life to Jesus Christ in repentance to receive Him into your life through faith, please do not delay. The time is very short. Come from Satan’s domain into the glorious kingdom of light in the Lord.
This ends the schemes and devices of Satan we have been studying. Part 12 will follow, and it is a poem I wrote some years ago looking at the names of Satan, and that covers his activity and schemes.
God bless you all.